Who else has the droopy door hinge syndrome?

Black1987Stang · Dec 21, 2005

My driver door started to become droopy. if the door is open i can lift the door up and down some. it opens and closes good but i can feel it drop down a hair when i unlatch the door. How can i fix this....I really hope I dont have to take off the fenderamnit: How can I fix this

CBZGT50 · Dec 21, 2005

The bushings in the door pin are made of brass and have warn on your car. If you are mechanically inclined, you can change the bushings yourself. I just put a set of pins and bushings in my truck that had the droopy door. It is a PITA, but can be done at home with a hammer, a friend, and a few beers.

Cheers,

Chris

Black1987Stang · Dec 21, 2005

CBZGT50 said:
The bushings in the door pin are made of brass and have warn on your car. If you are mechanically inclined, you can change the bushings yourself. I just put a set of pins and bushings in my truck that had the droopy door. It is a PITA, but can be done at home with a hammer, a friend, and a few beers.

Cheers,

Chris

How do i do that, I have to take off the door right, Do i have to take off the fender also, If so how do i do that? I can rebuild motors and trans but I have no idea how to take my door off So once the doors off, I just bang the old ones out and bang the new ones in? Where can i get the new bushings? Sorry about all the questions Thanks

Jaswir · Dec 21, 2005

i have the same problem on pass side... i thought it was a lil harder then that so i would like to know as well...

CBZGT50 · Dec 21, 2005

The doors have to be partially removed. If it is a 4 banger and has no electrical, just pop the pins out, remove the old bushings and take the door off. If it has electrical, just get an extra hand, put the door on a jack, and remove the pins. Reverse process and install new pins in same location.

Chances are that your droopy door will have slightly bent the hinges. Backyard way to fix the droop with new pins is to put a block of wood under a jack and jack the back 2/3rd's of the door up about 4" past where it hangs. Check the closure of the door. If it needs more, repeat. I had to do this process on my truck four times before I got the closure to the point that the door would shut with one finger. Before it had to be SLAMMED hard to shut the door. Also, Rotate or replace your striker as it likely has warn too.

If you need more info, PM me at CBZGT50

Chris

wazazzle · Dec 21, 2005

I did it myself with a dremel, 50resto pins/bushings, mallet, chisel, and jackstand. It's a pita imo. It's only been 6months and because i put my arm on the window evertime i drive the thing is sagging again. So much so that it's about 1/4" off and is clipping my front fender.

jrichker · Dec 21, 2005

Hinge pin & bushing kits are available at many auto parts stores. Or see http://www.texasmustang.com/ or http://www.mustang-unl.com/lmparts.htm. Usually less than $7 for the kit with one pin & 2 bushings.

Th hard part is to get the old pin out. Some were spot welded in, others were hammered so that the end mushroomed. Either way, it takes a grinder or cutter bit in a drill or Dremel tool to cut the pin or grind off the weld. Once it is off, tap the pin out with a hammer. Only remove one pin at a time so that you don't have the full weight of the door to manage. I highly recommend that you have a helper standing by to hold the door.

Once the old pin is out, lower the door and tap out the old bushings. Put the new bushings in and have the helper lift the door in place so that you can slide the new pin in. It may have to go in differently from the way it came out. That's OK, as long as you put the cotter pin in the hinge pin.

OOOPS!!! The important thing to remember is that the hinge pin isn't supposed to move once you are finished. If it does, then you will end up like me - the pin moved, it wore the door hinge instead of the replaceable bushings. Now in order to fix it right, I have to remove the whole thing again and drill out the hinge to the same size as the bushing and use 2 sets of bushings in each hinge rather than one set.

The fix for the OOOPs was very time consuming and if you aren't up to some very interesting machine work, do it right so you won't have to do it again. I fixed the OOOps but I had $43 worth of drill bit and specialized reamer plus pulling the fender off to fix it.

vristang · Dec 21, 2005

I did mine in the LX last summer.

I only pulled one pin at a time and used a jack to hold the door up.

There is no need to remove the fender.

Did it myself in a few of hours.
Would have been quicker, but when I got done the first time I realized that I had put a couple of bushing in wrong.
Basically, I did the job twice in 3hrs, with time for screwing around in the garage.

jason

Black1987Stang · Dec 21, 2005

jrichker said:
Hinge pin & bushing kits are available at many auto parts stores. Or see http://www.texasmustang.com/ or http://www.mustang-unl.com/lmparts.htm. Usually less than $7 for the kit with one pin & 2 bushings.

Th hard part is to get the old pin out. Some were spot welded in, others were hammered so that the end mushroomed. Either way, it takes a grinder or cutter bit in a drill or Dremel tool to cut the pin or grind off the weld. Once it is off, tap the pin out with a hammer. Only remove one pin at a time so that you don't have the full weight of the door to manage. I highly recommend that you have a helper standing by to hold the door.

Once the old pin is out, lower the door and tap out the old bushings. Put the new bushings in and have the helper lift the door in place so that you can slide the new pin in. It may have to go in differently from the way it came out. That's OK, as long as you put the cotter pin in the hinge pin.

OOOPS!!! The important thing to remember is that the hinge pin isn't supposed to move once you are finished. If it does, then you will end up like me - the pin moved, it wore the door hinge instead of the replaceable bushings. Now in order to fix it right, I have to remove the whole thing again and drill out the hinge to the same size as the bushing and use 2 sets of bushings in each hinge rather than one set.

The fix for the OOOPs was very time consuming and if you aren't up to some very interesting machine work, do it right so you won't have to do it again. I fixed the OOOps but I had $43 worth of drill bit and specialized reamer plus pulling the fender off to fix it.

Ok cool so in order to take the door off i need to take the pins out but do i need to take the fender off to get to it? and Since this just started happening i shouldnt have to mess with the position of the hinge on the frame im thinking anyways just replace the pin and bushings and hopefully im set? Would this be all i need http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb.dll?parta~showpictxt~0000081a~00330

BTW Jrichker im confused on what u mean by the pin is Not supposed to turn. When the door opens its not supposed to turn with the door? How can it be prevented from turning if its not supposed to.

wht93gtEd · Dec 21, 2005

This job, in my opinion, is quite possibly the worst job I have ever done on my Mustang!!!

I think the door hinge pins are made from some kind of top secret space-age alloy that's inpenetrable to anything except for 31 Dremel cut-off discs in a row!!! Because that's what it seemed like to me at least!!

89budget50 · Dec 21, 2005

I can relate to the dremel disc's!!! Irritated me so much I just bought an air grinder kit, off in thirty seconds!!. Just what I need, more reasons to buy tools.

jrichker · Dec 21, 2005

87stangdiddle said:
Ok cool so in order to take the door off i need to take the pins out but do i need to take the fender off to get to it? and Since this just started happening i shouldnt have to mess with the position of the hinge on the frame im thinking anyways just replace the pin and bushings and hopefully im set? Would this be all i need http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb.dll?parta~showpictxt~0000081a~00330

BTW Jrichker im confused on what u mean by the pin is Not supposed to turn. When the door opens its not supposed to turn with the door? How can it be prevented from turning if its not supposed to.

The fender stays in place and there is no need to remove it. Normally once you replace the worn bushings & pins, the door doesn't need any adjustment. That means you leave the hinge bolts alone and don't mess with them.

The hinge pins are tack welded to part of the hinge and don't move when you open the door. That means you have to dremel or grind off the weld to get the pin out. When you put the new pins & bushings in, the pin can move. Only one part of the door hinge has replaceable bushings. If the pin moves in the part of the hinge that doesn't have bushings, it wears on the steel hinge. That makes the door sag again, and the repair is much more difficult. Once you look at it closely as you move the door, you will see what I mean.

The ideal way to keep the hinge pins from moving is to tack weld them. Using permanent grade locktite is another possiblity. Or you can be careful and re-drill the cotter pin holes so that the cotter pin location keeps the hinge pins from moving.

Black1987Stang · Dec 21, 2005

i gotcha now, Thanks

cjman15 · Dec 21, 2005

yeah, i TRIED to do both of mine with the 50resto kit... but when i did my passenger side i got so frustrated with it and quit after the first one because I didn't want to damage my doors anymore......haha the one bushing isn't even in all the way... I'll just have a body shop do it when I get it painted down tha road.... total pain in the ass

Marks5.0! · Dec 21, 2005

both my doors are suffering from this as well, ive had the pins and bushings for about 6 months now, just been too busy to install them

Who else has the droopy door hinge syndrome?

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